August 5

Man, I was on top of things last night. After two sleepless nights in a row, I was determined to get a good night's sleep. I was in bed, ready to sleep by 9:45. Boo-yah!

Unfortunately, my children had other plans.

Eli woke up at 10:00, and decided to be wide awake for the next two hours. He finally fell asleep a little before midnight as I laid in bed with him on my chest.

At 1:03, Lily woke up. Poopy diaper. That never happens. I changed her diaper, snuggled her, and went back to bed. She screamed for 20 minutes.

At 2:12, I thought I heard someone knocking at our door. I peeked out my window, but saw nothing. Then I realized the knocking was Lily, pounding on her bedroom wall. I went in, snuggled and sang her a song, and left. She screamed for 5 minutes.

At 2:45, Eli woke up. He was hungry. I nursed him back to sleep.

At 3:15, Lily started screaming, "Water! WAAAATTTER!" 

I got her a cup of water, mumbled some not-very-kind things to her, and went back to bed.

At 6:08, I woke to hear Daisy and Caleb shouting about being Jedi masters. Really. I went in, told them that they were to be absolutely silent until the clock turned green at 6:30, and then they could watch PBS kids. I left the room, set up the TV and put out some frozen muffins, and went back to bed.

At 7:38, Lily was up for the day, and so was I.

I am so tired.

Luckily, I got an email that Panera is giving me one free cup of coffee every day for the month of August. Unluckily, there are no drive-through Paneras near me. Still, I wanted my coffee, so we left for our chiropractor appointment a few minutes early and stopped by our closest Panera. I gave the kids a talking-to beforehand: we are only getting coffee, we are not getting anything else, don't even ask, blah, blah, blah. And you know what? They were great. My little ducklings followed me into the store, waited patiently in line, and followed me out again. No complaining, no begging.

Sometimes these kids of mine are just fabulous.

After the chiropractor, we stopped at the library for some new books, then headed home for lunch and naps. While the little ones napped, Gayle came to take Caleb for their weekly date. Caleb so looks forward to his special time with Grandmother each week. I'm pretty sure Wednesday is his favorite day of the week!

While they were gone and the little ones (blessedly) slept, I got dinner ready, then decided to scrub my kitchen floor. I know I haven't scrubbed that floor since... um... since... before Eli was born? It's awful to admit, but true. I think Chris has cleaned it a few times, though. So there's that. But now, my friends, it is sparkly and clean. Eli is just so mobile now that I know he'll be crawling in a few months. I need to get in the habit of keeping my floors clean, asap!

Caleb and Gayle returned just as the girls were waking from their naps. Gayle brought over this vintage wool bonnet, which the girls immediately loved:

Isn't she precious? I think we have the perfect coat to go with it, for a lovely late-fall photo shoot.

I had the kids in their jammies by 6 pm, and we had all climbed into my big bed when Chris called. The best thing about our iPhones is being able to FaceTime with him while he's gone. The kids bickered over whose turn it was to hold the phone, but they were so happy to see and talk to their Daddy.

So sweet.

Kissing the phone.

They also showed him all of their new library books and told him about their days. This is the fourth day that he's been gone, and I'm definitely ready for him to be home. Only 9 more days.

Even Eli was happy to see Daddy on the phone. I didn't know what to expect at first, but he definitely recognizes and responds to Chris on the phone. It's pretty cute.

This is my little circus!